Caught in the Dark
by Penguistic
Summary: Graystripe contemplates what Starclan might do to help lead the four clans to a new home and also manages to find out only a small fraction of what he will have to do before being lead back to Thunderclan.


_A/N- This is the first of 100 one-shots that I am working on, one per day. I upload them all to my Deviantart account, Red-And-Black, so I thought I might as well do so here. _

A large metal truck moved along the thunderpath, making many clanging noises as the cages inside hit the sides of the truck while it turned. No light shined through to the cats inside, and it was like a dark abyss had swallowed the monster whole, taking the cats along with it. Nothing could possibly clue into what was going on more then the mind of the gray tom with the bright yellow eyes and a black stripe going down his back. This was of course, none other than Graystripe.

The tom was cornered near the opening of the monster, his whole body still tensed after having tried his hardest to save his clanmates. He had succeeded, ensuring that Mistyfoot, Cloudtail, Brightheart, Leafpaw, and other cats would be saved. However, in this process, he had failed to protect himself. Graystripe could not even begin to believe what had happened to him. Of course, he had only had this happen to him while trying to do good, but now he had gotten himself into a mess that he could not see himself getting out of.

This Thunderclan deputy did not see any way out of his current situation. He was stuck in some sort of monster's belly and he could not even see that well into the shadows. The only thing that alerted him of the presence of other cats was their low murmurs and eyes, eyes that showed just how terrified they really were. Graystripe tried to stay strong, not wanting to emit any feelings of fear himself. He was a warrior after all. Thunderclan had raised him well, and he could not simply weaken at the first sign of trouble. He needed to stay strong, not only for himself, but for the others with him and his clan back at home..

You see, the forests were basically being ripped a part by the twolegs, the same people who had now trapped him in one of their monsters. They brought all of their larger ones into the four clans' homes and simply started to ruin what had been where they had lived for many moons. Cats were frantic, no one able to understand how something like this could happen. Couldn't Starclan help them? They had been the ones to go to during times of trouble since the beginning, when Thunder, River, Wind, and Shadow had complied with their wishes and settled the cats down within the area to make the four clans. How could they suddenly be so unreachable at the time when they were needed the most?

Graystripe could not understand this himself. He tried to ponder it while he kept his stand near the corner, but his mind could not begin to comprehend what was going on. There was too much to really understand anymore. The four clans must have done something, anything, to anger Starclan to the point where they would not come to their aid. This could be the only thing that could have caused this all. They might not be able to control the monsters and twolegs, but they could certainly control the information they have to lead the clans out of this mess.

The fluffy, strongly-built gray tom couldn't begin to believe they would abandon them though. Perhaps, they just had an odd way of showing the way to the solution, or maybe even a new home. They often worked in mysterious ways. They never directly told anyone what to do. It was shown in elaborate or sometimes simple signs, that when seen by the right cat who could understand them, could crack the code and do what was right. This was not always easy, and was better said than done.

It wasn't only Starclan that he was worried about. He was starting to feel as if he had failed his own clan. He hadn't made it out of this mess. Instead, he had been captured by the one thing all cats despised, twolegs. Graystripe could no longer help Thunderclan to find the solution to their lessening amount of prey and shelter, now he could not help Firestar make decisions that needed to be made. It was almost like he had been forced out of his own clan by this situation that he had no control over and it made him so angry to simply realize it.

As he gazed around though, his eyes fell upon the others who had also been captured, cats who were not of clan decent, but were still going to be placed into a cage in one of those musty twoleg nests just like he was going to. In a way, he could only feel pity for them, and he knew that he could do one thing to not only help himself, but help them as well. For now, these would be those few cats that he would lead out of trouble and into freedom, even if it took some articulate planing.

For, it seemed like they all looked to him for some form of help now, and he finally understood what he might be here to do after all. Little did he know, that there was more in store for him than he could have possibly ever imagined.


End file.
